Student (21) escapes jail after selling 'revolting' porn videos at sex shop

Andrew Phelan

A SEX shop worker prosecuted over the illegal sale of pornographic videos in the store has been left without a criminal record after making a charity donation.

Art student Ciara McFerran (21), who was held responsible for the uncertified DVDs found in a garda raid on the "adult boutique", had the case against her struck out after she paid €5,000 to charity.

A shop assistant at the time, she was prosecuted for the offence at Dublin District Court following a raid on Miss Fantasia, on South William Street, in which 1,700 illegally-sold titles had been seized.

Foolish

Judge Catherine Murphy had said McFerran, who has since quit her job in the shop, had been allowed "take the rap" while no proceedings had been brought against the shop owners, Jacinta Feeley and Justin Parr.

McFerran, of Castle Lawns, Seabury, Malahide, was found guilty of 30 offences relating to the possession and supply of uncertified DVDs at the store in September 2008.

She was charged over a sample of 10 DVD titles that were among 1,700 seized in a garda raid on the store. They had not been certified for supply by the Irish Film Classification Office.

McFerran had denied all the offences, which were under the Video Recordings Act.

The judge said the owners were "clearly the people behind this matter" and that the accused had been carrying out her duties as an employee.

However, she said the defendant had been "foolish" and "naive" in agreeing to carry out illegal activity.

"She was allowed to take the rap for what was going on in this business," the judge said, telling McFerran to "use her intelligence properly" in future.

"If you are weak and you don't stand up for what you believe to be right, then the road ahead of you will be very bleak and very dark," the judge said.

She said the accused could have been liable to €30,000 in fines and two years in jail.

The judge had ordered the forfeiture to the State and destruction of the DVDs, which she said were "obscene and revolting".

Family

"You were a pawn in this matter, you weren't the person who decided to buy them and that they would be sold.

"The difficulty is, technically, you are fully responsible for what happened, that is the dilemma. I accept that you were young and possibly naive to a certain extent."

The judge had initially sought a €20,000 donation but reduced it when it emerged that most of it was going to be paid by the accused and her family, while the shop had only indicated it would contribute to the sum.

aphelan@herald.ie